"Hopeful expectation" refers to a positive and optimistic feeling about something that we are looking forward to happening or achieving. Full definition
At every point the community of faith faces the future in hopeful expectation of a glorious destiny. (religion-online.org)
It is with hopeful expectation, then, that one turns to a book written by an author who claims to have no religious or antireligious beliefs and wants to investigate this issue only because it throws light on the way a scholar's methods determine her results. (religion-online.org)
En route to the eschaton, the Christian community lives in hopeful expectation of the final consummation of the lordship of God over the entire world. (religion-online.org)